Silk
by trinfinity2001
Summary: Voyager and her crew are ready to leave for their first mission. But there's one thing Kathryn Janeway doesn't want to leave without.


Oh, thank God. He's finally gone.

It had been kind of Admiral Patterson to show her around her new ship, but giving her a tour of the whole vessel on launch day had been a little much. Janeway made a point of telling him that she'd spent three months reviewing the Voyager's schematics, hoping he'd get the hint that she would do just fine on her own. They'd reached deck 12 before she'd gotten through to him and he'd offered to disembark. Now back in her ready room, she was ready for Voyager to set sail.

Almost.

"Computer, time," she called out.

The alto voice of her ship answered her. "The time is 1313 hours."

Images of black cats and broken mirrors appeared in Janeway's mind and she smirked at the unlucky number. Most superstitions didn't hold water with her. Luck favored the prepared and the bold; you made your own luck. Except…

She glanced around her ready room. Something was missing.

The package that arrived before every mission was unexpectedly late. On her previous assignments it had always been surreptitiously snuck into her luggage or was waiting for her in her quarters when she arrived. Once she'd made XO, though, the gift-giver had kicked things up a notch, going so far as to get a Starfleet courier to hand-deliver the package to Kathryn's office on the Billings. Unboxing the mystery gift had become one of her rituals of shipping out. Leaving without it seemed an inauspicious way to start a journey.

Janeway idly drummed her fingers on the back of her couch. The flight plan they'd filed had them set to depart Utopia Planitia in less than 45 minutes. There wasn't much time left for that box to arrive.

Her rational brain chastised her. She didn't have time for this. She had a ship to run.

And so she spent the next half hour sifting through PADDs and approving systems status reports. She called Mark. She ran through her pre-flight checklist for the thousandth time that day.

She wondered why the box still hadn't arrived.

"Computer, time—"

The computer's voice was interrupted by the door chime. Janeway nearly leapt out of her seat to answer it but knew the person at the door could be anyone, not necessarily a messenger. Instead she called out for her guest to be let in.

A yeoman in red entered the room, holding in her hands an object that looked like a shirt box wrapped in silver paper. Janeway beamed.

"This just arrived by fast courier for you, Sir," the young woman declared. Janeway decided she could correct the girl on her preferred honorifics later and eagerly accepted the package from her hands.

"Thank you, crewman, dismissed." With a hiss of closing doors, Janeway took the box over to her couch.

_Finally, it's here. We can go now. _

Anticipation bubbled up inside her as she sat, poised to open it. What did this one contain, she wondered?

The list of options for the box's contents wasn't long. There would be no end-of-mission gala, so it probably didn't contain a dress like it had a few times before. They wouldn't be away long enough for shore leave, so a tunic or a shawl to wear planetside wouldn't make sense either, though she'd received a few of each in boxes like this. A small quilt, a scarf, a wall hanging—all of these were gifts she'd been given to celebrate the start of missions past.

Whatever the gift was, it didn't matter. The gift-giver in question had somehow not only learned to sew like a master tailor but also to guess Kathryn's needs and wants like a psychic. She knew that the hand-sewn gift contained in the box would be practical, personal and entirely perfect. Janeway slipped delicate fingers underneath the seals on the wrapping paper and pulled the box out. Like a child on Christmas morning, she lifted the lid.

Her eyes fell on folds of delicate pink silk. The material seemed to almost glow under the lights of her ready room as she gently lifted the garment from the box. Fabric flowed from her hands like liquid, cascading down to the table in a pool of iridescent cloth. She examined the thin straps on the dress, studying the impossibly sheer fabric and the soft curves of the neckline.

It wasn't a dress, she realized. It was a nightgown. And it was stunning.

Janeway was glad she'd taken to opening these gifts behind closed doors and she held the nightgown up again to revel in the beauty of the simple garment. She was thrilled; as usual, the gift's maker had worked magic and created something beautiful that Kathryn would enjoy wearing. It was just a shame Mark wouldn't be able to see her in it for another three weeks.

She glanced back at the box, which contained still more pink fabric, neatly folded and tied with a sash: a matching robe. But It wasn't the robe itself that caught her eye, rather the small piece of thick stationery tucked into its pocket. Janeway rested the nightgown down on the table and then reached for the note.

Words written in a long-lost script spoke to her in a voice as familiar as her own.

_Dear Captain Janeway,_

_Give Kathryn the night off once in awhile, okay?_  
_Good luck on your mission. Enjoy the journey._

_Love,_  
_Mom_


End file.
